Boston Children's Hospital launches public fever study based on Apple's ResearchKit

AppleInsider

Boston Children's Hospital on Tuesday announced the launch of a new iPhone app and study project, Feverprints, based on Apple's open-source ResearchKit platform.

Unlike some ResearchKit studies, Feverprints is intended for the general public in order to crowdsource data. The iPhone app ask users to regularly record their temperatures, and answer questions about symptoms, medications, and other health-related topics. To improve privacy, data is being anonymized, and while both adults and children can enroll, children must have parental consent.

The ultimate goal is to narrow down the span of normal and febrile body temperatures, and deduce "feverprints" that may help diagnose infections and other diseases. The study is also concerned with finding out how well fever-reduction medications actually work.

Apple originally launched ResearchKit in March 2015, and since then the platform has found its way into a number of iOS and Apple Watch apps. Most recently Harvard University began using an app to track long-term damage to former NFL players.

Last week Apple debuted another medical platform, CareKit, geared toward patients exiting clinics and hospitals. That technology is slated to become available next month.

ericthehalfbee

This will go down as one of the most significant things Apple has ever developed. The potential impact to people's health is enormous.

cnocbui

ericthehalfbee said:

This will go down as one of the most significant things Apple has ever developed. The potential impact to people's health is enormous.

The potential impact on people's health will be no different than any other epidemiological data gathering method.  It will actually be very close to having people fill in paper-based forms.

Given that people like to make a big thing about the differing socio-economic profiles of iOS and Android users, a study based on just an iOS app would have a considerable built-in bias, which given the protocols medical research is usually supposed to be conducted by, is probably not a good thing.

It would probably be better if the survey data collection method were web based to reduce such a bias.

cnocbui

sog35 said:

And yet we hear nothing about this in the media.

This is LIFE SAVING stuff.  Yet all the media talks about is how the AppleWatch is a total failure.
Pathetic.

Right now the media is hyping of all things the Amazon Echo. LOLOOOLLLOLOLOL!!  

Its pretty obvious to me that Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are paying $$$ to the media to write puff pieces about them and bash Apple as much as possible.

This not life saving stuff and it has nothing to do with the Watch.  An Watch did get help for a possibly save the life of a teen who's car fell on him - that got media attention.  You are paranoid.

JinTech

cnocbui said:

ericthehalfbee said:

This will go down as one of the most significant things Apple has ever developed. The potential impact to people's health is enormous.

The potential impact on people's health will be no different than any other epidemiological data gathering method.  It will actually be very close to having people fill in paper-based forms.

I beg to differ. For someone who has filled out countless pages of medical forms, I would much rather press a few options on a screen.

2old4fun

Concubine said, The potential impact on people's health will be no different than any other epidemiological data gathering method.  It will actually be very close to having people fill in paper-based forms. Given that people like to make a big thing about the differing socio-economic profiles of iOS and Android users, a study based on just an iOS app would have a considerable built-in bias, which given the protocols medical research is usually supposed to be conducted by, is probably not a good thing. It would probably be better if the survey data collection method were web based to reduce such a bias. It is sad that you have such a negative attitude. It would probably help if you had a good understanding of the subject. There is good reason not to use the web. But the effort to research and learn might be more than you want to do.

2old4fun

Sorry for AI's functionally on my iPad as it made several format and spelling changes.

ericthehalfbee

cnocbui said:

ericthehalfbee said:

This will go down as one of the most significant things Apple has ever developed. The potential impact to people's health is enormous.

The potential impact on people's health will be no different than any other epidemiological data gathering method.  It will actually be very close to having people fill in paper-based forms.

Given that people like to make a big thing about the differing socio-economic profiles of iOS and Android users, a study based on just an iOS app would have a considerable built-in bias, which given the protocols medical research is usually supposed to be conducted by, is probably not a good thing.

It would probably be better if the survey data collection method were web based to reduce such a bias.

You don't have a clue what you're talking about.

First hint? Comparing this to paper based forms. The hospitals and clinics who have ALREADY used ResearchKit have stated the number of people who participate in their studies have increased by an order of magnitude over previous systems. This is based simply on how easy it is to join a study right from your iPhone.

Next hint? The fact that the iPhone (and Apple Watch) are also used to conduct tests on patients (like the Parkinsons test doing simple motor control exercises). Unlike existing systems this provides a way to collect ACTUAL data from patients, not INTANGIBLE data about how people feel or what they remember.

Look, I know it upsets you that the average iPhone user is more intelligent, has a higher education and makes more money than an Android user. But your implication that they are only collecting data from the "wealthy and healthy" is pure BS. People from all socio-economic backgrounds use iPhones. And when these hospitals do studies part of the data they collect is about the person. This actually allows them to compare the differences between people from different backgrounds, not only get data from a limited group of people.

Web based would be better? So how is filling out a web form going to help transfer data about things like your heartbeat during the day or your activity levels or even sleep patterns?

normm

sog35 said:

And yet we hear nothing about this in the media.

This is LIFE SAVING stuff.  Yet all the media talks about is how the AppleWatch is a total failure.
Pathetic.

Right now the media is hyping of all things the Amazon Echo. LOLOOOLLLOLOLOL!!  

Its pretty obvious to me that Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are paying $$$ to the media to write puff pieces about them and bash Apple as much as possible.

Rob Enderle says Amazon may have sold as many as 10,000 Echo's before it sold out -- a real hit that Apple better echo soon!

foggyhill

normm said:

sog35 said:

And yet we hear nothing about this in the media.

This is LIFE SAVING stuff.  Yet all the media talks about is how the AppleWatch is a total failure.
Pathetic.

Right now the media is hyping of all things the Amazon Echo. LOLOOOLLLOLOLOL!!  

Its pretty obvious to me that Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are paying $$$ to the media to write puff pieces about them and bash Apple as much as possible.

Rob Enderle says Amazon may have sold as many as 10,000 Echo's before it sold out -- a real hit that Apple better echo soon!

Yes, making half a million dollar is obviously better than a billion in bizaro accounting world...

The tech press is soooo enamored by all of the little toys of Apple's competitors

nolamacguy

ericthehalfbee said:

cnocbui said:

The potential impact on people's health will be no different than any other epidemiological data gathering method.  It will actually be very close to having people fill in paper-based forms.

Given that people like to make a big thing about the differing socio-economic profiles of iOS and Android users, a study based on just an iOS app would have a considerable built-in bias, which given the protocols medical research is usually supposed to be conducted by, is probably not a good thing.

It would probably be better if the survey data collection method were web based to reduce such a bias.

You don't have a clue what you're talking about.

First hint? Comparing this to paper based forms. The hospitals and clinics who have ALREADY used ResearchKit have stated the number of people who participate in their studies have increased by an order of magnitude over previous systems. This is based simply on how easy it is to join a study right from your iPhone.

Next hint? The fact that the iPhone (and Apple Watch) are also used to conduct tests on patients (like the Parkinsons test doing simple motor control exercises). Unlike existing systems this provides a way to collect ACTUAL data from patients, not INTANGIBLE data about how people feel or what they remember.

Look, I know it upsets you that the average iPhone user is more intelligent, has a higher education and makes more money than an Android user. But your implication that they are only collecting data from the "wealthy and healthy" is pure BS. People from all socio-economic backgrounds use iPhones. And when these hospitals do studies part of the data they collect is about the person. This actually allows them to compare the differences between people from different backgrounds, not only get data from a limited group of people.

Web based would be better? So how is filling out a web form going to help transfer data about things like your heartbeat during the day or your activity levels or even sleep patterns?

well said. this dude is just here to pass off his grade-A FUD as something other than slop peddled from an agenda.

using a native app on your person is far better for data collection than trying to do it in forms or a state-less web form. give me a fucking break. plus apple already delivered the facts -- ResearchKit is producing some of the largest medical surveys on earth.

frac

cnocbui said:

ericthehalfbee said:

This will go down as one of the most significant things Apple has ever developed. The potential impact to people's health is enormous.

The potential impact on people's health will be no different than any other epidemiological data gathering method.  It will actually be very close to having people fill in paper-based forms.

Given that people like to make a big thing about the differing socio-economic profiles of iOS and Android users, a study based on just an iOS app would have a considerable built-in bias, which given the protocols medical research is usually supposed to be conducted by, is probably not a good thing.

It would probably be better if the survey data collection method were web based to reduce such a bias.

I think that's a bit negative to say the least.
Without knowing the data sampling methodology, you can't simply compare it with mere form filling which is well known for the tendency self assessors to bulk-filling several days data in one go.
But, depending on the granularity of data requested - even that bias can be eliminated fairly accurately. The same goes for any such study...including this one. Also, socio-economic biased data is no less valuable.